In the Afterlife
by RiverDoe
Summary: A slightly darker look at Maximus' afterlife. Maximus POV. Please RR. One shot.


AN- I knew it was a bad idea to watch Gladiator in the middle of the night when I couldn't get to sleep. Written from Maximus' point of view. Please review.

**In the Afterlife**

I can see the gate in front of me, opening to reveal the road to my house lined with trees. In the distance, I can see my son running to greet me. We meet halfway down the road, he laughs as I pick him up. A smile crosses my face. He tells me all about the wild ponies and how he's learned to keep his heels down when he rides them, just like I asked him to. We head up to the home we all share, talking about great adventures.

I greet my wife with a kiss, and my son jumps down from my arms. He takes my hand and leads me to where the ponies are kept. My wife comes up to my side and I wrap an arm around her shoulder.

An image appears in my mind, the fields around me are burning, black ash swirls on the wind. And I see two figures still smouldering from where they hang, nailed to two crucifixes.

I blink, the image disappears, and a tear slips down my face. I can feel something is off, something is somehow wrong.

_What we do in life, echoes in eternity..._

"Maximus?" my wife asks, a worried look on her face.

I smile at her, forcing the feeling away. "It's nothing."

She smiles at me and heads over towards where our son is playing. I smile as I watch them and turn to look at the sunset. What did I do in my life? The answer comes to me as I turn to look at my wife and child.

A man appears beside me, I see a flash of steel glinting in light and I turn as he slashes at me. I manage to duck in time and I feel the blade slice the air just above my head. I lash out, my fist catches his stomach and he doubles over. I grab his ears and stand. My knee connects with his nose and I let him go. He cries out in pain and wipes the blood away. I reach for my sword and draw it. The blade glints, reflecting the dying light coming from behind him into his eyes. He lunges at me again. I feint to my left and bring the sword up to pierce his flesh. I pull the grip round and tug the blade free.

With a sickening gurgle, he falls to the ground and blood sprays up and out of the gash. I look down and see that I'm wearing my old armour. There are two horses on the chest plate.

Argento and Scato. Their names come back to me and I look up as another man punches me across the jaw. I spin round and fall to the floor.

Sand immediately flies up my nostrils, making me splutter. I can see the sun high overhead, watching everything. I roll over and the man raises a massive battleaxe. The death glare from the sun glints off the blade.

I get up on pure instinct, reaching for my sword. Before he can bring the axe down, I throw my full weight behind the sword and the tip pierces his armour. He falls back and the axe comes down at his side. I pull the sword from his body and look at it's blood smeared blade. I make no attempt to clean it. Too much blood has been spilt.

I look up when I see a familiar face floating over the surface. The man approaches me, and he's smiling. Then he's gone and another man, another gladiator is attacking, a ball and chain swinging round in his hands. I duck the ball as it flies over my head and grab the chain. The metal hooks dig into my palm, drawing blood. I swing the sword in a downwards arc and a large gash appears round his neck. He falls to the sandy ground.

I let go of the chain and look at my hand. The flesh of my palm knits itself back together. I flex my fingers, they're fine. I ball my hand into a fist and I feel no pain. Another man swings a sword at me; I deflect his blade and punch him. He comes back with a vengeance and manages to land a punch at my chest. The plate takes most of it and I fall back on my other foot and throw myself at him. I slice through his neck and his head rolls off to be swallowed by the sand. I look up again and I'm in an arena. Men are fighting all around me. I grip my sword in both hands and go charging into the fray.

If what we do in life truly echoes in eternity.

Then I will continue to fight.

**End**


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